


Elf Mistakes

by AshJuillet



Series: Christmas Fics [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Co-workers, F/M, Misunderstandings, Santa's Elves, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshJuillet/pseuds/AshJuillet
Summary: A slight misunderstanding brings Fred and Hermione together. AU.
Relationships: Fred Weasley & George Weasley, Hermione Granger/Fred Weasley, Lavender Brown & Hermione Granger
Series: Christmas Fics [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038066
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47





	Elf Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Fred/Hermione  
> Prompt: We're both Santa's elves at the mall

Hermione sighed under her breath as she watched the redheaded man ruffle a blond child’s hair and help him walk up towards Santa’s chair. “Oh, Fred’s so sweet with all those children, isn’t he?” she muttered.

“You’re right,” Lavender said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you make a move on him already? You’ve liked him ever since we started working here.”

“Yeah, but it’s just a small crush,” Hermione protested weakly. “I’ll get over it soon.”

“Instead of getting over it, get  _ under _ him instead,” Lavender suggested casually, adjusting her pointed elf-ears, a huge smirk on her face.

“Lavender! Don’t be so crude!” Hermione cried, looking around to make sure none of the children in the queue had heard the tall woman.

“Oh, come on, he likes you,  _ too _ ! It’s clearly evident by the way he makes puppy eyes at you when you’re in your costume,” Lavender said with a grin. “He’s this close”–she held her thumb and forefinger together–“to snogging you against that ridiculous Santa chair.”

“It  _ is _ ridiculous, isn’t it?” Hermione murmured as she turned her head to look at the large chair in the middle of the stage. It was made of mahogany and decorated with long red-and-green tinsel with large sparkly balls hanging off it. The fairy lights that were wrapped around the headrest twinkled merrily at them.

“ _ Yes _ ! Now, either you go snog that elf right now, or I’ll tell him myself.”

Hermione groaned but nodded, aware that Lavender would do what she had just threatened to do. “I’ll ask him out during his break.”

“Perfect! Give me all the details!”

“Okay,” Hermione murmured, her hands already beginning to sweat at the thought of what she was about to do.

“It’ll be fine, Hermione, relax. He likes you just as much as you like him. Trust me.”

* * *

When the mall’s Santa, Mr Fudge, finally got up from his chair and walked off for his break, the other elves were allowed to take a quick breather, too. Hermione wrung her hands as she walked after the tall redhead, who whistled a jaunty tune as he moved to stand down near the fountain.

“Hey, could I talk to you?” she asked him when she was in front of him. For some reason, she didn’t feel the same attraction she usually felt around the man, but she shrugged it off, thinking it was probably a fluke.

“Uh, hello,” the redhead said with a smile. “I’m—”

“Would you like to go out for a coffee with me sometime?” Hermione blurted out, sweat beading on her brow. She just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Not knowing what to do with her hands, Hermione tugged on her collar and smoothed down her green skirt, fidgeting with the ruffles, wondering why her costume seemed so constricting all of a sudden.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not—”

“Oh, okay, then. Forget I even asked,” Hermione muttered, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “I’ll see you around.”

“Wai—” Hermione didn’t even let him finish his sentence before she pivoted on the balls of her feet and disappeared in the throng of people gathering near the stage again, tears forming in her eyes at the man’s rejection. She couldn’t believe she had even asked him out.  _ Why did I do that? I knew I shouldn’t have done that! Now, I’ll have to stop working here because I can’t face Fred after humiliating myself like that! Oh, God, why did I listen to Lavender? What does she know about men, anyway?  _

Rushing into the nearest toilet, she hid in a stall and cried her eyes out, horrified at her reaction. It should have been only a crush, but Hermione knew she was infatuated with the handsome redhead more than she should be. Fred was everything she had ever wanted in a romantic partner: he was charming, funny, great with children, chivalrous, and he had these amazing cerulean-blue eyes that always sent Hermione’s heart into overdrive.

Now that he had rejected her outright, Hermione knew that if she wanted to keep volunteering at the mall as an elf, she would have to pretend as if nothing had happened. She wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath in. “I can do this. This will be easy as pie.”

* * *

“Hey, Gred, what’s wrong?” George asked his twin brother later that evening. They were in Fred’s flat, wrapping the presents for their family. “You haven’t cracked a joke ever since you got home.”

“Not in the mood,” Fred muttered, fiddling with the red ribbon. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Hey, no, that’s not right.  _ You _ can’t be in a bad mood! It’s  _ you _ ! Tell me what’s wrong, and maybe I could help you out.”

“Well… there’s this girl I like, and—”

“You want to ask her out, but you’re too much of a chicken to do it?”

“No! I know how I’m going to ask her out — it’s just that she was ignoring me today for some reason, and it hurt!”

“You’re such a pansy. Just ask her what’s wrong and be done with it.”

“I can’t  _ ask _ her that! I mean… I know I didn’t do anything to offend her, but she still wasn’t talking to me — even though we were partnered up at work — and I have this feeling that she’s hurt? I don’t know, Forge… Help a man out, will you?”

“Wait, is she one of those elves you work with at the mall?” George suddenly faced him, his eyes wide with worry.

“Yeah, she is. She’s so beautiful, mate… She’s got these gorgeous brown eyes and these long, long,  _ long  _ curls, and she’s so small — not age-wise, though.” Fred sighed as he placed his chin on his palm and gazed at the wall. “She’s so good with the children, too; they all love her so much... Oh, God, George! What if she’s found someone else? What will I do?”

George swallowed and said carefully, “Uh, Fred… This girl you like… She’s not a brunette, is she? About yay high”–he raised his hand just above his ribs–“and keeps on fidgeting with her clothes when she’s nervous?”

“You met her today?” Fred asked, surprised. “What happened? Did she say something to you? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I forgot! When Mum called you and I went to the mall in your place, a woman came over to ask me out, and—”

“Ask you out? You mean Hermione asked  _ you _ out?” Fred cried, terrified at where George was going with this. “Please, please, please, George, tell me you told her you weren’t me.”

“I didn’t get the time! Before I could explain, she told me to forget it and ran away.”

“Oh, God, no… No, no, no,” Fred wailed, dropping his head into his hands. “No, please, tell me it wasn’t Hermione… Please, George… I’ve been waiting to ask her out properly, and if she thinks  _ I _ rejected her… Oh, God, George!”

“Hey, she ran away, okay? I was about to tell her who I was, but she interrupted me!”

“Don’t blame her, George! She gets really nervous about things,” Fred said defensively.

“It’s true, though. She ran away before I could even say anything, so it’s not  _ my _ fault.”

“You’re such a git! Ugh, I need to explain everything to her right now!” Fred shot out of his seat and hurried over to the door, throwing on his jacket and hat as quickly as he could. “Don’t wait up for me!”

George flipped him off and went back to wrapping the presents.

* * *

The sound of banging on the door startled Hermione from her book, and she dropped it in her hurry to get up. “I’m coming!” she called out, terrified something bad had happened to someone.

Dressed in her comfiest pyjamas, she threw the door open. Fred barged into her flat immediately, grabbed her waist and hoisted her up against his body. He kicked the door shut with his foot and pressed Hermione against the wall. “I want to go out with you!” he cried, terror evident on his face. “Please, forget what George tried to tell you today!”

“W-who’s George?” Hermione asked, her heart thundering against her ribs at their proximity. “Let me down, Fred.”

“No, it’s time I show you just how I feel about you,” Fred muttered, wrapping his arms tighter around her body and tilting his head. “You won’t mind if I kissed you, right?”

Hermione’s cheeks tinged pink at his boldness, and she said, “No, but I thought you didn’t—”

“ _ George _ didn’t want to go out with you — not me. And for the record, George’s my evil twin,” he explained, reaching his hand up to cup her face. Tilting her head to the right, he closed the small distance between them. When he was only a few millimetres away from her lips, he whispered, “Please, go out with me tomorrow.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to tell me why your evil twin was at work today and not you,” she murmured, her eyes slowly fluttering shut as she inhaled his minty scent.

“Deal.” And Fred kissed her.

**Author's Note:**

> Please read and review. Thanks.


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